


Simon Olenski, a Floozy

by Nocticola



Category: Shoot The Messenger (TV 2016)
Genre: 1x1 Beginner's Luck, Character Study, Cheating, Episode 1x8 Full Circle, F/M, Implied/Referenced Cheating
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-07-29 01:29:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16253858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nocticola/pseuds/Nocticola
Summary: Simon Olenski character study throughout the series.





	Simon Olenski, a Floozy

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still terrible at oneshots so here's a chapter per episode of the show plus a post-series one that was originally what this was supposed to be. But I like Simon and I wanna write more about him.

Simon Olenski has had a respectable career in journalism. Sure, he's been in a slump the last couple of years because of a fuck up, but he makes due. But when he hears about a Somali kid being killed right in front of his colleague, he can't help feeling 'this is it'. This is how he gets back to being on the inside, hearing and knowing stories before anyone else. He needs that. He craves that. 

It shouldn't take much for him to get Daisy to accept his help. She's new at this department, and he's noticed the way she sometimes checks him out. He also wants to make sure Daisy doesn't fuck up the Gazzette's connection to the Somali community he's been working so hard for. It's natural for him to offer her some help, isn't it? And a little flirt never hurt anybody. 

_Simon Olenski: “It’s Daisy, right?”_

_Daisy Channing: ”Uh-huh.”_

_Simon: “You okay?”_

_Daisy: “I’m fine. Busy.”_

_Simon: “The victim is a Somali kid, right? It’s all over the police scanner. Just so you know, the Somali community is really difficult to get into. “_

_Daisy: “Really?”_

_Simon: “Yeah. But I know the local Imam, and I’m good friends with the community worker in Dixon City.”_

_Daisy:” And you’re telling me this because?”_

_Simon: “Well I know the world. We would share the byline.”_

_Daisy: “That’s tempting, but ah I got this.”_

Huh. She's a bit tougher than he expected. _Simon: “You know, I really am just trying to help.”_

_Daisy: “Mm-hm.”_

_Simon: “Yup.”_ He sighs. That didn't go quite as expected. It's not that he doesn't understand Daisy's hesitance. It's her first big case. And while he needs this, he's not going to beg. 

He starts going back to his own desk when Daisy follows him. 

_Daisy: “Hey, Simon! Look, no offence. You’re um you’re the dude around here. You’ve had tons of exclusives and I’m just out of entertainment. If you really want to help me, give me your contacts.”_

She really is something. It’s nice to know he has a bit of a reputation, and not a bad one, but Daisy seems a it overly eager and naïve. 

_Simon: “Wow. The thing is, Daisy, I don’t think the Imam would talk to you.”_

_Daisy: “I’ll chance it.”_

Simon is still figuring out how to respond to Daisy’s ballsiness when he hears a mostly welcome voice. 

_Cassie Leman: “Am I interrupting?“_

_Simon: “I was supposed to meet you.”_ He really needs to check his calendar more often, and not get caught up on cases and coworkers. 

_Cassie: “Mm-hm. “_

_Simon: “Mm-hm. Sorry.”_ He pulls her into a hug. It’s a good thing that Cassie is really patient and understanding. 

_Cassie: “Just don’t be late for Father Matthews tomorrow.”_

_Simon: “Okay.”_ Maybe they shouldn't do PDA at work but a little kiss doesn’t hurt. For some reason, he feels the need to explain to Daisy, that, _“We have these, um, marriage classes.”_

Cassie shows Daisy her engagement ring and Simon can’t help but feel both happy and weird about that. 

_Daisy: “Oh. Congrats.”_

_Simon: “Yeah. Cassie, this is Daisy. Daisy, Cassie.”_

_Daisy: “It’s nice to meet you.”_

_Cassie: “Nice to meet you too.”_

As Simon stands a bit awkwardly between the two women, he realizes maybe he should not get personally involved with this case. Better not to risk anything. 

_Simon: “So, um I’ll just text you those contacts.”_

_Daisy: “Really? Oh. Thanks. Thanks a lot.”_

_Simon: “Mm-hm. Come on.”_

He and Cassie leave for lunch, and he knows it’s for the best. He doesn’t want to screw anything up with Cassie. 

*** 

Later his boss, Mary Foster, invites him into her office as she’s going over the case with Daisy. He helps her with her zipper, which is a bit too intimate as far as boss and employee go, maybe even too intimate for ex lovers who have no more feelings for each other, but bad habits are hard to break. 

_Mary Foster: “Daisy’s on the Somali shooting and needs your expertise.”_

_Simon: “No. We already spoke. She’s all over it.”_

_Daisy: “Yeah, Simon shared some contacts and I’m calling the family for quotes.”_

_Mary: “I think you should do this.”_

Another hard to classify moment. But it might really be better for him to stay out of this. He’ll find another story. 

_Simon: “It’s okay, Mary.”_

_Mary: “All right then. “_

*** 

Maybe if Simon wouldn’t have worried about his dick so much, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. Sure, the issue was less complete cultural ignorance than not asking for the correct spelling but it’s still bad. Daisy writing a eulogy for the wrong brother is really, really bad. And all it took was one wrong name and misunderstanding of Somali naming customs. 

_Simon: “In Somalia, they don’t have family names. The naming convention is first name, father’s first name, grandfather’s. So my Somali name would be Simon Boris Peter. My brother would be Paul Boris Peter.”_

Now that Daisy knows that, hopefully she’ll manage to fix her mistake. Simon really hopes she’ll actually listen to him during the meeting with the family. It ends up going well enough, except Daisy taking personal responsibility is legally tricky but at least she finally just humbly listens. She still has a lot to learn. 

Outside the Suleiman family home, Simon makes notes, both of what happened in the house (something about Khaalid seems familiar, he’ll need to look into that) and what happened outside. Apparently Detective Lutz is Daisy’s terrible informant. Well, that’s more than Simon has these days. 

*** 

It doesn’t take much searching before he finds the article he wrote about Khaalid. Artistic young man with a lot of potential. What a damn waste. But these things usually are. 

Daisy’s not at her desk so Simon goes to the roof where a lot of people go to take breaks, and he does find her there smoking. 

_Simon: “I didn’t know you smoked.”_

_Daisy: “I’m really bad at quitting shit. “_

_Simon: “You got an extra one?”_ he knows he shouldn’t smoke at all but it’s one of those habits that are hard to break. He tells himself he’s just smoking because of the company. (He’s very good at justifying bad decisions) 

_Daisy: “Here you go.”_

_Simon: “Here, I’ll trade you. Figured out where I’d seen Khaalid before.”_

_Daisy: “The guy was talented. And you didn’t see anything about a criminal record?”_

_Simon: “Not when I did the story.”_

_Daisy: “Then the shooting was about Hassan.”_

_Simon: “Maybe. Maybe not. Khaalid’s brother, he runs the Mogadishu boys. They’ve been warring with the 5PM on and off for years.”_

_Daisy: “You’re thinking Khaalid was targeted because of his brother?”_

_Simon: ”Yup.”_ It’s a possibility that can’t be overlooked. But at this point, they need to pursue every possible theory to figure this out. Of course, the real work is on the cops. They should just report what they have now. 

While he’s still not quite sure this is smart, he can’t help but feel excited. This is the type of stories he wants to write. Following leads late into the night, like Daisy apparently did when she found Hassan’s address. Maybe this is the story he’s been waiting for all these years. He goes to follow Daisy at the address she left for him on his desk. He’s curious to see what he finds there.


End file.
